Friday night, when the teams meet in Vegas in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic, the roles will be somewhat reversed.

As non-conference play draws to a close, top-ranked Illinois (12-0) is flying high and No. 22 Cincinnati (10-0) slowly is getting noticed.

Tuesday, Illinois coach Bruce Weber recalled Cincinnati's confidence heading into their previous meeting and his team's fear factor, which strengthened its resolve to upset the Bearcats.

"We were ready to play," Weber said. "Once we hit them . . . they definitely didn't have that edge that you need. This year it's the other way around."

Before the Illini take on Cincinnati they'll face Northwestern State (5-6) Thursday night in Las Vegas.

The Demons have dropped four straight, including an 81-65 Vegas tourney loss to the Bearcats on Dec. 18.

Lesson learned?

Weber hopes his Illini learned a lesson from their struggles against lowly Longwood (1-14) on Monday.

Weber was critical of the team's defensive letdowns against Longwood and in the second half against Missouri.

Longwood's 79 points against Illinois were the most by any Illini opponent this season. Longwood also hit 32 field goals, another season-high for Illini opponents.

"It's important they realize they struggled," Weber told reporters. "The coaches realize it. You guys realize it. Until they realize it, then we won't pick it up again."

Sliding

When comparing his team's sharpness in late November and early December to its last few games, Weber said: "I think we've gone down the hill a little bit--in the second half against Missouri and last night for 30 minutes. We'll see how we finish the month."

Out in the cold

Longwood coach Mike Gillian received several congratulatory calls Tuesday morning and his team was scheduled to appear on ESPN's "Cold Pizza" from a Champaign television studio, Longwood sports information director Greg Prouty said.

"We were seconds away from appearing," Prouty said, but an audio glitch forced a postponement until later this season.